Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Hello.
Thank you for visiting my blog today. The following interview is with an author
in my writing circle (promotional Twitter group) called, Author’s Social Media
Support Group. His name is Joseph Ephraim. Enjoy!

Scarberryfields: Can you tell us a little
about your nationality/ancestry?

Joe:
You know that’s a really intriguing question: on my father’s line it’s mainly
Jewish/Irish, however, on my mother’s side it’s really strange! You see she was
adopted. All my family could find out about her was that her mother was a
doctor’s daughter, and her father was a class above the gentry ~ obviously she
was born out of wedlock, and in those days it was quite a stigma ~ the sad
thing is I never got to question my mother about the aforementioned. She died
two years ago!

Scarberryfields: When you finished your
debut novel, did you miss the characters?

Joe: Nice
one! I have hundreds of characters swimming around in my head ~ it’s all part
of my make-up, (fiction), guess if one gets killed off in one of my books then
a bit like the phoenix they inevitably rise from the ashes dust themselves off
and adorn a new set of clothes, and, enter a new plot.

Scarberryfields: While writing, if you
need help with punctuation, grammar, etc., where do you turn?

Joe: You
know what? every writer is different and they all have their own little
traits.A lot of writers today are
worried about grammatical punctuation and grammar. I once did a 500,000 word
dissertation examining the life and works of Christopher Marlowe and the
relationship between the works of Marlowe and Shakespeare. The latter taught me
virtually every aspect of writing covering all the classics post to modern day!
Wow you may think, cool! Not really you see the Hoffman prize was instigated by
an extremely clever ‘New York Times’ journalist, the late Calvin Hofman, who put
up a ‘MILLION DOLLAR’ legacy for anyone who could definitely prove that Marlowe
was the author of Shakespeare’s works. Well I took the bait hook line and
sinker. Ten years later after a long hard slog, I came to the positive
conclusion that Shakespeare’s canon was put together by a group of university
wits. However, one only has to look at Marlowe’s Dr. Fautus, and compare The
Jew of Malta to the Merchant of Venice to see pure genius at work!

Scarberryfields: With the number of hours
spent writing, do family members support you or complain about the time spent
away from them?

Joe: Yes
definitely! However, as you all probably know writing is a very lonely
business. I must say the greatest support I ever had was from the literary
manager at ‘the Royal National theatre London.’ One Jack Bradley. He sent me
quite a few notes, however, the most memorable was the one which read: “…for a
piece of work to satisfy our large audiences it must contain a strong central
and original idea. It needs to be imaginatively executed with flair and a hugely
developed sense of craft and of course, not clash thematically with anything
ever presented before. ~ I know these are challenging demands. No wonder so few
writers regularly attain them. Moreover, fewer still do so without a lifetime’s
experience.

Scarberryfields: Does writing benefit you
in any way and if so, how?

Joe: No
not really it takes up most of my time if ya get my drift ~ however, it’s fun
and addictive!

Scarberryfields: When you’re writing, do
you shut-off all social networks?

Joe: Yes
I completely shut-off from everything ~ writing is like a jig-saw puzzle for
me, I have my trusted note-book from which I take pieces, create and begin
putting the jig-saw together, at the end of the day hopefully there’s a book!

Scarberryfields: Did you use any family
members as Beta readers for your debut novel?

Joe: NO!
:0)

Scarberryfields: What do you do when you
aren’t writing? Do you have any hobbies or a job?

Joe: Travel
and people listening and watching ~ I’ve been lucky, by nearly traveling the
length of the Nile to visiting family over in Australia, and extensive travel
around Europe, Italy, France, Spain, Greece, Turkey, from ‘The Valley of the
Kings’ to standing in St. John’s cave, Patmos to standing under the dome in St.
Peter Basilica…

Scarberryfields: What is the last book
called that you completed and published?

Joe: See
below:~

Scarberryfields: Where can readers go to
find your books?

Joe: Just
bang ‘Nourished By that Which Consumes’ by Joseph Ephraim into your U.S. Amazon
search engine

Scarberryfields:
Thank you, Joe for taking time out from your
busy day to answer my questions. I’ve enjoyed getting to know more about you. It’s
a pleasure having you in my circle. I wish you the best with your debut novel
and any you publish in the future.

2 comments:

Hi Joseph, it's being done (about your offer to preview you in Twitter in exchange to promotion). Now it's your turn to keep your promise. I couldn't write to you there because you didn't follow me...Thanks Benny Y (HomeDesigner_)